Male Undergarment

ABSTRACT

A male undergarment providing a comfort barrier between the genitalia and the thighs to prevent chafing and sweating and to decrease scrotum temperature to improve fertility, while also providing unrestricted movement to the scrotum and penis without requiring readjustment of the comfort barrier.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application takes priority from Provisional App. No.63/216,288, filed Jun. 29, 2021, which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to male undergarments, and morespecifically to a male undergarment that separates the genitalia fromthe thighs to improve comfort, prevent chafing, and decrease scrotaltemperature to improve fertility, and which does so in a way that doesnot require continued readjustment.

Background of the Invention

There are many problems associated with the most popular styles of maleundergarments today. The most popular types of male undergarments areboxer shorts, which allow the genitalia to hang free, and briefs, whichconfine the genitalia close to the body. In the case of boxer shorts,the genitalia, most particularly the scrotum, is allowed to come intocontact with the thighs. This causes the scrotum to stick to the thighs,causing chafing and sweating in hot weather, and requires the wearer tofrequently readjust the genitalia for comfort. In the case of briefs,the genitalia are confined close to the body. While this is less likelyto cause chafing, confining the scrotum close to the body is going toraise its temperature, which decreases sperm viability.

Several prior-art male undergarments exist that attempt to solve theseproblems. While most of them provide a separate pouch for the genitalia,some prior art undergarments attempt to confine the genitalia in a moreopen-ended separate compartment with no vertical support of thegenitalia. In either case, the prior art male undergarments attempt tocontain the genitalia and prevent it from moving, which will stillrequire frequent readjustments as the wearer moves around, and which mayeven cause discomfort depending on how the wearer moves around.

A need exists for a male undergarment that separates the genitalia fromthe thighs and does not confine the genitalia at all, vertically orhorizontally.

LIST OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a view of an embodiment of the present invention from thetop.

FIG. 2 shows a view of an embodiment of the present invention as worn bya user.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the underside of an embodiment of thepresent invention as worn by a user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a male undergarmentthat is comfortable to wear and does not require frequent readjustment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a maleundergarment that does not confine or contain the genitalia or impedeits free movement in any way.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a maleundergarment that prevents scrotum contact with the thighs regardless ofhow the wearer moves around.

In an aspect of the present invention, it comprises an undergarment withtwo leg holes and a waistband, and a perineum covering portion locatedbetween the two leg holes. A trapezoidal bottom panel is attached to theperineum covering portion; the trapezoidal bottom panel comprises a topside, a bottom side, and two slanted sides; the top side is longer thanthe bottom side. There is a large genital opening at the front of theundergarment that is large enough for a user's penis and scrotum to passthrough it comfortably. The bottom of the genital opening is formed bythe top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel, and the top of the genitalopening is located at the waistband. The genital opening also comprisesa left side and a right side. A left side panel is attached to the leftside of the genital opening and a right side panel is attached to theright side; each extends from the trapezoidal bottom panel to a locationbetween the top side and bottom side. The left side panel contacts theuser's left thigh when the male undergarment is worn, extending from theleft side of the genital opening to the user's inguinal crease; theright side panel contacts the user's right thigh, extending from theright side of the genital opening to the user's inguinal crease.

In an embodiment, the undergarment also comprises at least one flapcovering the genital opening, where the flap does not constrain themotion of the genitalia.

In an embodiment, the left side panel and the right side panel comprisemesh four-way stretch fabric. In an embodiment, each panel isapproximately 140 mm long.

In an embodiment, the left side panel and the right side panel areshaped like a segment of a circle and are approximately 40 mm at theirwidest point.

In an embodiment, the top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel isapproximately 60 mm long.

In an embodiment, the trapezoidal bottom panel is located on a user'sperineum with the top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel behind thescrotum when the male undergarment is worn.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in theimage, the garment outwardly resembles a standard male undergarment, inthat it comprises a waistband 100, leg holes 110, and that it covers thebuttocks and the hips. It will be understood that while the image showsa shorts-style undergarment, the present invention can be practiced witha brief-style undergarment as well, without the shorts-style legcoverage.

The garment comprises a genital opening 120, sized and positionedappropriately to admit the penis and scrotum through it. In thepreferred embodiment, the genital opening extends all the way from theperineum to the waistband as shown. In an embodiment, the genitalopening is loosely covered by two flaps (not shown). The flaps do notconfine the genitalia in any significant way, either horizontally orvertically, and serve simply to prevent genital contact with the user'spants and to improve the appearance of the undergarment. Trapezoidalbottom panel 130 forms the bottom side of the genital opening, providinga separation between the scrotum and the thighs and perineum. Left sidepanel 140 and right side panel 150 are located to either side of thegenital opening, separating the lateral sides of the scrotum from thethighs.

The side panels 140 and 150 are positioned in such a way as to be inclose contact with the thighs when the garment is worn, and to cover atleast the entire area where the scrotum would touch the thighs normally.This enables adequate separation between the scrotum and the thighswhile also allowing free movement of the genitalia without the need forreadjustment—while there is fabric separating the scrotum and thighs,that fabric hugs the thighs rather than hugging the scrotum, which ismore comfortable and less likely to require readjustment. The advantageof the present invention over the prior art is that the prior artundergarments tend to cup the scrotum rather than cover the thighs;since the male genitalia move around during normal activity, thegenitalia tend to come out of the cup or shift within the cup while theundergarment is worn, requiring readjustment. Since the presentinvention covers the thighs rather than cupping the genitalia, noreadjustment is needed—the thighs are always separated from the scrotumno matter what the user does. Even if the user were to turn upside-down(for an exercise, for example) and then turn back to an uprightposition, his genitalia will require no readjustment—the side panelswill stay in place, and while the genitalia will move around, there isno way it will ever come in contact with the user's thighs. When theuser stands upright again, his genitalia will hang down unimpeded, andthe side panels will prevent it from contacting the user's thighs asbefore. There is simply no way for the genitalia to get out of place ina way that would require readjustment.

Furthermore, one other advantage of the present invention is that whenthe user pulls down the undergarment and then pulls it back up again,the undergarment does not “catch” the scrotum, requiring readjustment.Prior art undergarments require careful placement of the genitalia inorder to provide comfort. The present invention simply requires the userto pull up the undergarment; there is no way that the scrotum can getcaught in the side panels as the undergarment is pulled up.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the undergarment of the present inventionbeing worn by a user. As can be seen, the side panels 140 and 150 coverthe thighs of the user; the user's genitalia hang freely and are onlyloosely covered by the flaps 200 and 210. (It must be noted that theflaps 200 and 210 are optional and not required for practicing thepresent invention). As can be seen, when the undergarment is worn, theside panels 140 and 150 extend from the user's inguinal crease to theedge of the genital opening. Furthermore, regardless of how the usermoves around, the side panels 140 and 150 stay in contact with the skinof the user's thighs, between the inguinal crease and the edge of thegenital opening.

In an embodiment, the side panels are shaped like circular segments,with the widest part of the side panel being approximately 40 mm at itswidest point. This enables sufficient coverage of the thigh so that thescrotum will never come into contact with it. In other embodiments, thecurved side of the side panel can be shaped like other curves—a segmentof an oval, for example—as long as the genital opening is wide enough toadmit the genitalia without discomfort.

The side panel is attached to the edge of the genital openingcontinuously throughout the length of the side panel without any gaps.This is important, because this makes the side panel less likely totwist or to catch a part of the genitalia in an uncomfortable way. Atleast one prior art design contains a significant gap between aribbon-like part of a pocket for the genitalia and the rest of theundergarment, which makes it much less stable and less likely to stay inplace. The present invention has no gaps between the side panel and theundergarment, preventing twisting or moving out of place.

Trapezoidal bottom panel 130 is located right behind the scrotum on theperineum, as shown in FIG. 3 . The purpose of the trapezoidal bottompanel is to provide sufficient separation between the side panels toprevent discomfort for the user. As shown in the Figure, the longerparallel side of the trapezoidal bottom panel is located behind thescrotum, and the slanted sides of the trapezoidal bottom panel, as wellas the shorter parallel side, are attached to the fabric of theundergarment. The longer parallel side of the trapezoidal bottom panelforms the bottom side of the genital opening. The trapezoidal bottompanel is preferably located in such a way as to prevent any contactbetween the scrotum and the perineum regardless of the user's position.

The dimensions of the trapezoidal bottom panel can vary, but in thepreferred embodiment, the longer parallel side of the trapezoidal bottompanel is approximately 60 mm long. This enables it to provide sufficientseparation between the side panels so that the user's genitalia are notconstrained laterally in any way.

The side panels are attached to the left and right side of the genitalopening so that one end of each side panel is at the corner between thetrapezoidal bottom panel and the left or right side of the genitalopening. This ensures that the side panels wrap slightly around thethigh, creating closer contact between the side panel and the thigh, andmaking it less likely that it may move out of place or be uncomfortable.

The left side panel, right side panel, and trapezoidal bottom panel maybe made out of a mesh four-way stretch fabric to provide greaterventilation and comfort. Alternately, any fabric used for themanufacture of undergarments may also be used.

While the genitalia are completely free to move in the undergarment ofthe present invention, in an embodiment, one or more panels to cover thegenitalia may be used with the present invention, as long as the motionof the genitalia is not overtly constrained by the panels. This isuseful for modesty and cleanliness of the user's outer garments. It isto be emphasized that the panel is not a required element of the presentinvention.

An exemplary embodiment is described above. It will be understood thatthe present invention encompasses reasonable equivalents to the abovedescribed elements that would be apparent to a person of reasonableskill in the art.

1. A male undergarment, comprising a front and a back, comprising: twoleg holes; a waistband; a perineum covering portion located between thetwo leg holes; a trapezoidal bottom panel attached to the perineumcovering portion, wherein the trapezoidal bottom panel comprises a topside, a bottom side, and two slanted sides, wherein the top side islonger than the bottom side; a genital opening on the front of theundergarment that is large enough so that a user's penis and scrotum maycomfortably pass through it, wherein the genital opening comprises aleft side, a right side, a top side, and a bottom side, wherein thebottom side of the opening is formed by the top side of the trapezoidalbottom panel, wherein the top side is located at the waistband; a leftside panel located along the left side of the genital opening, extendingfrom the trapezoidal bottom panel to a location between the top side andthe bottom side, wherein the left side panel is attached to the genitalopening along the left side of the genital opening, wherein the leftside panel contacts a user's left thigh when the male undergarment isworn, and wherein the left side panel extends from the left side of thegenital opening to a user's inguinal crease when the male undergarmentis worn; a right side panel located along the right side of the genitalopening, extending from the trapezoidal bottom panel to a locationbetween the top side and the bottom side, wherein the right side panelis attached to the genital opening along the right side of the genitalopening, wherein the right side panel contacts a user's right thigh whenthe male undergarment is worn, and wherein the right side panel extendsfrom the right side of the genital opening to a user's inguinal creasewhen the male undergarment is worn.
 2. The male undergarment of claim 1,further comprising: at least one flap covering the genital opening, insuch a way as to permit easy access to the genitalia and to notconstrain its motion.
 3. The male undergarment of claim 1, wherein theleft side panel and the right side panel comprise mesh four-way stretchfabric.
 4. The male undergarment of claim 1, wherein the top side of thetrapezoidal bottom panel is approximately 60 mm long.
 5. The maleundergarment of claim 1, wherein each of the left side panel and rightside panel are shaped like a segment of a circle, and wherein each ofthe left side panel and right side panel is approximately 40 mm at theirwidest point.
 6. The male undergarment of claim 1, wherein each of theleft side panel and right side panel are approximately 140 mm in lengthalong their attachment to the genital opening.
 7. The male undergarmentof claim 1, wherein the top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel islocated on a user's perineum behind the scrotum when the maleundergarment is worn.